DIY SLS 3D Printer Made For 400 Euro

Vulcaman from Germany developed a DIY laser sintering (SLS) 3D printer that you can make for some 400 Euro or 450 USD.

Technical specifications:

• 1W 445nm laser diode
• 8 x 8 x 8cm build volume
• 36 x 54 x 60cm outer dimensions
• CORE-XY movement
• speed: 60mm/s tested, 300mm/s possible
• costs around 400€

Video of the machine in action:



Since the nylon powder that commercial SLS printers use costs some 200€ per kilogram, developer used much cheaper black powder for powder coating. This gear was printed in black powder coating material at 60mm/s it has dimensions of 3 x 3 x 0,5cm and took one hour to print.

Project homepage with very detailed step-by-step build guide:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-SLS-3D-Printer/

Let the cheap DIY SLS era begin!!!

Read More

OpenSLS Laser Sintering 3D Printer Made From Hacked Laser Cutter

Rice University bioengineering researchers have hacked a cheap Chinese CO2 laser cutter into a low(er)-cost laser sintering 3d printer and used it to produce fine objects such as liver structures. They claim it can be made under 10000 USD.

Materials used on it are nylon, sand, Candelilla wax, polycaprolactone (PCL) and other. 

Since there is a 40-80 W of laser energy, they use custom build inter gas module to prevent burining of the material.  

They have also made it open source, which deserves some gratitude from the community! Thank you Rice team! Sharing is caring!

Here is the short presentation video:




Here is the powder distribution mechanism in action:



Project has a very detailed and extensive documentation well worth reading if you are interested in laser sintering and bioprinting.

GitHub with all the files:

https://github.com/MillerLabFTW/OpenSLS

Rice Uni news article:

http://news.rice.edu/2016/02/22/modified-laser-cutter-prints-3-d-objects-from-powder/

Ver detailed RepRapWiki page:

http://reprap.org/wiki/OpenSLS

Detailed PLOS research paper:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147399

If you want to make something similar, do keep in mind that lasers are dangerous, and nylon powder and simillar micro-powder materials are flammable and can also go KA-BOOM. Stay safe kids.

Here is the photo gallery:

Read More

Early attempts in DIY laser sintering by Replaser from 2010

Some attempts at DIY laser sintering from 2010 with a 250mW laser, plastic powder and thermo-gel. It was noted that 1kg of powder costs about 3-5 Euro and 50ml of gel cost about 5-6 Euro. Since then some advancements were made by other in the field., but it is interesting to see early experiments.

Source:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Replaser?feature=watch

Read More

GE develops metal powder cold spray 3d printing technology

GE is intensively researching and using various forms of 3d printing. This is new approach where they use "cold spray" technology to spray metal particle paint layers on metal part and form a shape. Since it can be applied on metal surfaces, it can be used to repair a part as well as make a new one. This could result in huge savings in complex metal parts repair or maintenance.

From GE site:

Spray technologies are particularly attractive for the production of large structures, which are challenging for today’s powder-bed additive manufacturing processes due to equipment size limitations. 

The cold spray technique has the potential to scale up to build larger parts, with the only limitation being the size of the area over which metal powders can be applied.
Cold spray—also known as 3D painting—demonstrates a unique marriage of materials, process, and product function which can, in the immediate future, transform repair processes for industrial and aircraft components such as rotors, blades, shafts, propellers, and gear boxes.

Since cold spray does not require heat, like common repair processes such as welding, it allows a repaired part to be restored close to its original condition. In GE’s Oil and Gas business, GE researchers are exploring cold spray as an alternate way to repair or coat parts involved in oil and gas drilling and turbo machinery.
Cold spray’s future benefits include extended product lifespan and reduced manufacturing time and material costs, all of which translate into significant customer benefits.

Source:

http://www.genewscenter.com/Press-Releases/GE-Researchers-Experiment-with-3D-Painting-to-Build-Up-and-Repair-Parts-43b7.aspx

Update:

here is the video about Cold Spray additive manufacturing technology layering process in super slow motion:


From video description:

See the Slow Mo Guys film GE researchers demonstrate a process called "cold spray", in which metal powders are sprayed at high velocities to build a part or add material to repair an existing part. GE researchers are exploring this 3D painting technology as an alternate way to repair or coat parts involved in oil and gas drilling and turbo machinery. To see the process on film, the Slow Mo Guys spray copper particles 10 times bigger than normally used for this process.

Read More

3DP - inkjet powder 3D printer

The author of Focus printer project concluded that it lacks technology and key parts for successful laser powder printing, he changed directions and developed it into inkjet powder 3d printer. He now uses ZCorp powder (similar to gypsum) and HP C6602 inkjet cartridges with water-glue-alcohol binder.








From project thingiverse page:

Focus is converted so it uses HP C6602 inkjet cartridges. It is currently hooked up so it uses only one nozzle and prints with ordinary Gcode. As soon as I have more results, I will get the right slicers and firmware to print more like a printer, but for now this will do.
It prints with Zcorp powder and binder. This works by printing with binder (water, alcohol and glue) in Powder (glorified gypsum) to make a model. This model is then cleaned and impregnated with CA glue to make the model strong. It works great, but since a new layer currently takes 30 seconds to deposit and I print with only one nozzle, even small things take forever. The maoi is 40 minutes, the creeper 30 minutes. Plans are already being made to make a new printer specially for 3DP powder printing that is at least 30 times faster, but this will take several more months.

Thingiverse page: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:151259

More details on inkshield and working with ink cartridges for this project:

http://nicholasclewis.com/projects/inkshield/theory/

3DP printhead with HP inkjet cartridge

3DP print results

3DP 3d printer

Update (21.8.2014.):

Project matured and upgraded version with detailed building guide is released as "Plan B" 3d printer:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/08/plan-b-open-source-3dp-powder-based-3d.html

Read More

Pwdr - diy powder3d printer

It looks like powder 3d printing for your home manufacturing is getting closer with open source Pwdr. It will enable whole new range of possible printed models. Still in early development stages, but technology is advancing ...



More info on:

 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:27794

Pwdr is an open source powder-based rapid prototyping machine. Its goal is to promote experiments and innovations in powder-based rapid-prototyping. The machine is ready to use both the 3DP as the SLS process with minimal adaption, although the printer is currently prepped for 3DP.

More information on: pwdr.github.com

Hardware
The Pwdr Model 0.1 consists of chassis, tool head and electronics. The printer entirely consists of off-the-shelf components. It has a simple design and can be built within a couple of hours. The machine is easy and affordable to build and modify. Building a Pwdr Model 0.1 machine costs about €1000,-.

Software
The accompanying software for the Pwdr Model 0.1 converts the CAD model in a printable format. This file is then uploaded to the Pwdr Model 0.1 micro-controller. The machine is controlled by easy-to-use software that allow full control of the printing process.The Pwdr Model 0.1 software has been based on open source tools like Arduino and Processing.

Materials
A whole new range of materials become available for experimenting with open-source rapid-prototyping; for example, when using the 3DP process: gypsum, ceramics, concrete, sugar, etc. And when the SLS process is fully supported, plastic materials like ABS, PP, Nylon and metals become available as building material.A Hewlett Packard inkjet cartridge is used for the deposition of binder. The cartridge can be refilled with custom binders using a syringe. A custom binder of 20% alcohol and 80% water has been proven to work.

Specifications
- Maximum build size: 125mm x 125mm x 125mm
- Print resolution (3DP): 96DPI
- Minimum vertical step size: 50μm
- Speed (depending on printed part): ±1 minute per layer

Read More